Tag: Latina Comedy Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Janice Rodriguez, Executive Producer

Latina Comedy Festival

latinacomedyfestival@gmail.com

773-330-2520

Latina Comedy Festival Announces 2025 Return with Exclusive Partnership with The Lincoln Lodge

CHICAGO, IL – March 19th, 2025 – The Latina Comedy Festival is back and bigger than ever, announcing its 4th annual festival with an exciting new partnership with The Lincoln Lodge, Chicago’s premier independent, non-profit comedy club. For the first time, the festival will take place exclusively at The Lincoln Lodge from October 2-4, 2025, solidifying its place as the nation’s leading comedy festival dedicated to Latina comedic voices.

To celebrate this milestone and officially kick off the festival season, the Latina Comedy Festival ½ Way to the Fest Fundraiser will take place at 5pm on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at The Lincoln Lodge. This special comedy event will showcase a powerhouse lineup of 15+ Latina comedians delivering the best of stand-up in high-energy, rapid-fire sets. This line up includes powerhouse talent including Melissa DuPrey (Hulu How to Die Alone), Deanna Ortiz (Chicago Reader’s 2022-2024 Best Stand Up Comedian), Jillian Ebanks (Second City), Soli Santos (Laugh Factory) and more. Proceeds from the fundraiser will directly support the festival’s mission to elevate Latina talent, provide industry opportunities, and expand comedy education through workshops and mentorship programs.

“The Latina Comedy Festival started as a simple dream—to create a space where Latina comedians could take center stage and be celebrated for their voices,” said Janice Rodriguez, Executive Producer of the Latina Comedy Festival. “Now, in partnership with The Lincoln Lodge, we’re making that dream even bigger. This April fundraiser is just the beginning of what will be our most ambitious and exciting festival yet!”

Since its inception in 2022, the Latina Comedy Festival has grown exponentially, featuring over 60 performers from across North America and garnering media attention from CBS, WGN, and NBC. The 2025 festival promises 18 showcases, both English and Spanish-language performances, industry panels, and exclusive networking opportunities, all held under one roof at The Lincoln Lodge, a non-profit organization committed to supporting diverse comedic voices.

“The Lincoln Lodge is thrilled to be the home of the Latina Comedy Festival,” said Kelsie Huff, Director of Marketing and Training Center Program Development at The Lincoln Lodge.  “We share the same mission of providing a platform for underrepresented voices in comedy, and we can’t wait to welcome these incredible performers to our stages.”

Tickets for the Latina Comedy Festival ½ Way to the Fest Fundraiser on April 19 are available now at https://laslocascomedy.thundertix.com/events/243617. To learn more about the festival, sponsorship opportunities, and ways to support Latina comedians, visit Latinacomedyfestival.com.

About the Latina Comedy Festival
Founded in 2022 by Las Locas Comedy, the Latina Comedy Festival is dedicated to celebrating and amplifying Latina comedic talent. Held annually during Hispanic Heritage Month, the festival has showcased nationally recognized headliners and up-and-coming performers, creating an inclusive and empowering space for comedy.

About The Lincoln Lodge
A staple of Chicago’s comedy scene, The Lincoln Lodge is a non-profit comedy club dedicated to providing performance opportunities for diverse comedic voices. With its commitment to inclusivity and artistic growth, The Lincoln Lodge serves as a launching pad for both emerging and established comedians.

For media inquiries, interviews, or sponsorship details, please contact:
Janice Rodriguez, Executive Producer,  latinacomedyfestival@gmail.com 773-330-2520

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Info:
Janice Rodriguez
Latina Comedy Festival
773-330-2520
latinacomedyfestival@gmail.com
latinacomedyfestival.com

Latina Comedy Festival Returns to Chicago for an Exciting Third Year

The team behind Las Locas Comedy, Chicago’s only monthly Latina stand-up comedy show, is back with an expanded 3rd Annual Latina Comedy Festival from October 3rd-5th, 2024, across multiple venues in Chicago.

Chicago, IL September 9, 2024 – The Latina Comedy Festival, produced by Las Locas Comedy, returns to Chicago from October 3rd-5th, 2024 with expanded showcases at multiple venues across the city including Laugh Factory in Lakeview, The Den Theatre in Wicker Park, Chicago Dramatists in River West and Lincoln Lodge and Surge Billiards in Logan Square. The festival will feature the best Latina standup comedic talent from across the country including Chicago native Gwen La Roka (HBO Max), New Yorker by way of Puerto Rico, dancer, actor and comedian Suni Reyes (New York Comedy Club), and San Antonio comedian and TikTok start Chona-E (LOL San Antonio). A panel of industry representatives and comedians recently reviewed comedian submissions and selected 45 amazing performers from across North America to perform at this year’s festival.

In an industry where Latinas represent less than 1% of comics booked at comedy clubs across the country (The Comedy Club Database), Las Locas Comedy has been committed to elevating diverse female voices in comedy. Celebrating its seventh year, Las Locas Comedy continues to expand their programming to include this annual festival to showcase comics from across the country – a feat made possible by the network they’ve built across the country with Latina comics from cities such as L.A., Austin, San Antonio, New York, Denver, and Miami.

The first iteration of the festival in August 2022, showcased 18 locally-based Latina and nonbinary Latinx/e comics performing short, rapid-fire sets at the Lincoln Lodge in Logan Square. In addition to our flagship ‘Marathon Show’ at Lincoln Lodge which will happen at 5pm on Saturday, October 5th in this year’s festival, producers have grown the festival to include 7 total showcases which will give selected performers multiple opportunities to perform to a Chicago audience.

Our three day festival, happening in the heart of Hispanic Heritage Month, will also include networking events as well as educational workshops for the comedians to grow their craft and connect with each other and industry representatives. Audience members will have an amazing opportunity to see heavy hitters and up and coming Latina comedians from across the country in talent-packed showcases. The festival’s highlight happens on Saturday, October 5th at Chicago Dramatists with a special headlining showcase by Marcella Arguello, star of the HBO/Max comedy special Bitch, Grow up!. Full performer lineups and individual showcase tickets are now on sale via the Latina Comedy Festival website.

Las Locas Comedy believes the fight for representation creates a ripple effect in the comedy scene, propelling underrepresented talent to national comedy clubs and beyond. “There is so much amazing Latina comedy talent here in Chicago and across the country. Showcasing that talent through the Latina Comedy Festival platform will give comedians exposure to new audiences as well as introduce festival attendees to comedians they have not yet had the chance to see,” said Las Locas Comedy founder and Executive Producer of Latina Comedy Festival, Janice V. Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, and their crew of “Locas” have proven time and again that there is a market for comedy written and performed by Latinas in an industry that continues to be dominated by a white male narrative. Five out of 6 of last year’s showcases were completely sold out and we received local and national news coverage. The positive feedback from last year’s event and the growth of this year’s Latina Comedy Festival continues to prove that audiences want entertainment from diverse voices.

Showcase tickets and performer information are available at LatinaComedyFestival.com/tickets and more “loca” content can be found on social media at @laslocascomedy and @latinacomedyfestival.

About Las Locas Comedy
Las Locas Comedy is a Chicago-based monthly comedy showcase centered around Latinas and female comics of color. The show was founded by comedians Janice V. Rodriguez and Soli Santos in 2017 to provide a platform for Latina comedians and female comedians of color. The debut show was standing room only and their popularity has continued to grow with each subsequent show. Las Locas Comedy received the inaugural Lady Laughs Comedy Award for Best BIPOC Show, has been Chicago Reader Recommended, dubbed a “Must See Comedy Event” by Red Eye and selected to perform as part of Steppenwolf’s Lookout Series in 2019 and 2023. In 2022, Las Locas Comedy’s 5th anniversary show was also selected to be a WBEZ produced community event.

###